Curt Plug Updated

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Tom in NM
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Joined: 06/07/2020 - 18:17
Curt Plug Updated

Hi folks

Four years ago when I was waiting for my Scamp, I installed an eTrailer wiring kit on my car that included a Curt socket. It took advantage of the existing 4-wire setup. It has worked well until recently. I began to have problems with one or the other stop / turn light not working on the trailer. I tried cleaning contacts on both the trailer and car sides. I found that the contacts in socket on the car were pretty corroded despite a spring loaded cover. 

Rather than fuss with it further, I decided to just replace the socket on the car. I'd modified the bracket to fit with my hitch. I found the exact Curt product, making it a straightforward job to replace. 

Too far into the job to turn back, I discovered that the wire sizes are considerably smaller than the ones of four years ago. I'm not too concerned with the lighting wires, but the power wire is 14 gauge (I think based on the stripper). It feels that lightweight. I ran 10 gauge from the front of the car and I believe the previous Curt power wire also was that gauge or very close to it. The grounding wire in the new kit is larger than the other wires but seems smaller than the previous one.

Also, the pre-attached crimp connector for the power wire was not done correctly and easily slipped off when I tested my connection with a gentle pull. 

Pretty disappointing. has anyone else noticed changes in their products? 

Should I be concerned about the smaller power wire?

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UPDATE: I just spoke with Curt product support  

On the need to replace after four years: He was not surprised and referred to it being an electronic device, compared it to a television, and said it's not unusual to replace such devices every four years or so. He did suggest that I use dielectric grease on the new one as that might result in longer life. I told him I would but confirmed again that he wasn't surprised at it needing to be replaced after four years. 

On the smaller power wire: He said that they may have changed it in the product but that a 12-14 gauge wire was all I needed. 
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Thoughts on what he had to say about this? 

Tom

vincentimes.69
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Last seen: 1 month 2 days ago
Joined: 12/08/2019 - 22:13
10AWG can handle up to 30A.

10AWG can handle up to 30A. Which is yuuuuge.

12AWG, besides for e-brakes, should be unnecessary. It can go up to 20A.

14AWG can take up to 15A, which is good enough for almost everything in your trailer. Including the fridge or the cig lighter outlet.

 

That being said, it doesn't hurt to go higher. The greater the better. The fuse size is crucial tho.

Having a 14AWG (15A max) wire coupled with a 20A fuse is going to be a problem. The fuse will not blow and the wire will melt. So the ideal is to go the other way around: for instance install a 10A fuse on a 14AWG (15A max) wire. The wire will then never be stretched to his maximum; the fuse will always blow first and protect the wire.

Conclusion #1 you having installed a 10AWG is great. Now make sure the fuse corresponds to the device you are powering, not to the max acceptable by the wire.

Conclusion #2 CURT are like everybody else... they are probably tempted to pull quality down to save a few bucks here and there. Copper is expensive. They size the wire to the applications it is supposed to serve, not to make it heavy duty and last a century.

2001-16' Scamp

Tom in NM
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Last seen: 1 hour 49 min ago
Joined: 06/07/2020 - 18:17
May upgrade the wire

Thanks for this useful information. It confirms what I've been concerned about. I'm told (eTrailer) that the power wire is 12 gauge. I may have been wrong about it being 14. 
 

I'm not concerned about devices in the trailer. I do not anticipate that anything besides lights and such will running off this connection with the car. It's primary use is to charge the trailer battery while I'm towing. However after dry camping the battery will be low and I'm assuming the current will be whatever the car alternator will provide. 

I have verified that trailer pigtails run 10 gauge for the power and ground wires. I have 10 gauge running from my car battery to the plug  

Having disassembled the old plug, I see that the internal wire connections are screw terminals.  It seems it would be relatively simple to replace the provided power wire with a 10 gauge one. It may not be strictly necessary, but I'd feel better with a consistent 10 gauge power wire all the way. 
 

vincentimes.69
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Last seen: 1 month 2 days ago
Joined: 12/08/2019 - 22:13
Having 10AWG all the way is

Having 10AWG all the way is for sure peace of mind.

 

Car chargers usually provide around 15A.

As for the alternator not sure how much it will put out because some of them are really powerful 100+ amps. However I would think the trailer battery isn't charged directly by the alternator, there must be some sort of converter along the way somewhere that regulates how much it will receive. It's probably around trickle charging intensity (~3A?). We are talking about current flowing thru regular wiring of your car, not the big power cable (size 0AWG?) connected to the battery under the hood. So Not sure...

2001-16' Scamp

Tom in NM
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Last seen: 1 hour 49 min ago
Joined: 06/07/2020 - 18:17
Alternator charges both

The power wire runs directly from the car battery to the one in the trailer, ie, resulting in two batteries in parallel. The car alternator (and its regulator) charges both at 14.x volts as needed. At least that's how I assume it works. The alternator is connected to the car battery with something like a 10 gauge wire. (Big cables are for the starter.) So having that size continuous to the trailer battery makes sense to me.

Corrections and updates 

I cannot tell the size of the charging wire to my car battery since it is in a sheath. It appears to be a larger size than 10awg.

I'd forgotten that the wiring kit from eTrailer included a 40 amp self-resetting breaker for the power line. That was matched with the 10awg wire provided to run power to the trailer plug. Scamp also has a 50 amp breaker at the trailer battery. 

No change to bottom line. I'm going to make it 10awg all the way.